LEGEND OF

INDIA -
AKBAR
Prepared by:-
MEETU TANEJA
AKBAR – THE GREAT MUGHAL
 At time of his accession, Akbar was threatened
by enemies from all sides.
 Beyond Agra, the Afghans were still strong and
wanted to capture the throne of Delhi.
 Adil Shah, the nephew of Sher Shah controlled
the area from Chunar to the border of Bengal.
 The greatest threat was from Hemu, the minister
of Adil Shah, was from Hemu, the minister of
Adil Shah, who was strengthening his power day
by day.
 On the other hand, the Rajputs too had
strengthened their position and wanted to oust
the Mughals from India.
 However, Akbar rose to the occasion and solved
his problems.
BATTLE OF PANIPAT-II
 In 1556 CE, the Mughal forces clashed with the Afghan forces led
by the chief minister and general of Adil Shah, Hemu.
 He defeated the Mughals near Delhi and occupied the city.
 But before he could consolidate his position, Mughal forces under
Bairam Khan marched on to Delhi.
 The Afghan army was defeated.
 Hemu was captured and killed .
 The second Battle of Panipat crushed the Afghan power and
removed the threat to Akbar’s throne.
 Bairam Khan reoccupied Agra and Delhi.
 Agra became the capital of Mughal Empire.
AKBAR'S CONQUESTS

 In 1560, Akbar freed himself from the

regency of Bairam Khan and launched a
number of conquests and built a huge
empire.
 To expand his empire, Akbar adopted two
methods:
1. Direct Conquest

2. Matrimonial Alliance
 Akbar conquered Malwa, Gondwana, Gujarat, Bengal, Bihar,
Kabul, Kashmir, Sind and Qandahar.
 After consolidating his position in Northern India, Akbar turned his
attention towards Deccan.
 He first tried to bring the Deccan Sultans under his control by
diplomacy.
 He sent embassies to Khandesh, Bijapur,
Golconda and Ahmadnagar.
 He asked the rulers of these states to accept
his overlordship and to pay tribute.
 But when they refused, he waged war against
them and annexed Berar, Khandesh
and Ahmadnagar.
RAJPUT POLICY OF AKBAR
 Akbar realised that he could not consolidate his
empire without the support of the Rajputs. So he
adopted a friendly policy towards them. He
adopted a friendly policy towards them. He
appointed the Rajputs at high positions in the
administration.
 For example – Raja Bihari Mal and his son,
Bhagwandas, Raja Man Singh, Raja Todar Mal,
Birbal etc., were given high posts in the
administration.
MATRIMONIAL ALLIANCES.

 Akbar made the Rajputs not only his friends but also
relatives through matrimonial alliances.
 In 1562, he married the daughter of Raja Bharmal of
Amer, Harka Bai, who was renamed as Mariam-uz
Zamani.(also known as Jodha Bai)
 He also married two Rajput princesses of Bikaner in
1570.
DIRECT CONQUEST
 Akbar followed an aggressive
policy towards those rulers who
refused to accept his suzerainty.
 One such state that refused to
accept Mughal suzerainty was
Mewar.
 The Rajputs also wanted to
recover Chittor, their capital city,
conquered by the Mughals.
 Maharana Pratap of Mewar
carried on the struggle against
Mughals.
BATTLE OF HALDIGHATI
 A furious battle was fought between the
Rajputs (led by Maharana Pratap) and the
Mughal forces at Haldighati.
 The Rajputs were defeated by the Mughals
in 1576 and Maharana Pratap escaped into a
mountain fortress.
 Akbar carved out a huge empire stretching
from the Himalayas in the north to the
Godavari in the south and from the Hindkush
mountains in the west to the Brahmaputra in
the east.
ADMINISTRATION  One of the significant
contributions of Akbar’s reign
was the establishment of an
efficient administrative system.
 Akbar gave the Mughal India
one official language (Persian),
a uniform administrative system
and coinage and a common
system of weights and
measures.
 Akbar’s administrative system
can be grouped under two
heads:
 Central Administration
 Provincial Administration
CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION

 Akbar’s system of Central

administration was a
combination of Persian,
Central Asian and Indian
traditions.
 Its working and other
details are mentioned in the
literary work Ain - i - Akbari
by Abul Fazi.
 To join all provinces in the vast empire
into a small unit a central government
was set up .
 The emperor was extremely powerful
his decision on all mattered the most for
eg- military , politics etc .
 His word was law and he was the
commander - in - Chief of the armed
forces.
 He was assisted by a team of ministers
and officials.
 The promotion or dismissal of any
member was the sole right of the
emperor .
 The success of this system was
depended largely on the personality and
his wisdom to choose the correct person
for the correct job .
His council of ministers was composed of –
• The Wazir or Diwan - head of the revenue
department. He was responsible for all
income and expenditure and held control
over khalisa , jagir and inam lands.
• The Mir Bhakshi - head of the military
department and the paymasters of all
mansabdars.
• The Qazi - chief judge and the chief sardar
and the supervisor of the royal household.
• The Wakil or Prime Minister - did not
exercise any effective authority. He was
only a ceremonial head.
 Akbar held regular meetings with his senior
officers in the Diwan-i-khas .
 He considered himself as the guardian of his
subjects .
 He would meet them in the Diwan-i-Aam
where he would receive petitions , listen to
their problems and solve many cases on the
spot.
PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATION
 The vast empire was divided into 15 provinces or subas.
 A governor or subedar was placed in charge of each
province who was the leader of both military and civil
affairs.
 The Diwan kept the records of the land revenues.
 The Diwan and the subedar kept a close watch on each
other.
 The provinces were further subdivide into districts or
sarkars which were further subdivided into small units
of administration called ‘Parghana’.
 Each of these units had a team of government officials
managing their affairs and reporting to the
corresponding officials at the level immediately above
them.
 The villages were looked after by panchayats.
UNIFORM COINAGE SYSTEM
UNIFORM WEIGHTS AND MEASURES
 Before Akbar’s reign, weights and measure
system varied from region to region and
commodity to commodity.
 The weights were based on the weights of
various seeds and lengths were based on
the length of arms and width of fingers.
 Akbar adopted barley corn for the weight and
for linear measurement he introduced the
Illahi Gaz (yard).
THREE STANDARD GAZ DEPENDING ON
THE OBJECTS TO BE MEASURED:
 Long Gaz to measure long
distances, forts and roads.
 Middle Gaz to measure
stone houses, temples and
gardens.
 Short Gaz to measure
garments, table linen etc.
MANSABDARI SYSTEM

 The term means holding a particular rank in the administration.

 The Mughal administration was essential a military one . Under this
system every official was given a rank according to the nature of the job.
 Those who joined Mughal service were enrolled as mansabdars and
were given a rank, known as the Mansab.
 Each rank was further divided into two – zat and sawar.
 Zat rank meant the personal status and salary due to him.
 Sawar rank indicated the number of cavalrymen (sawars) a mansabdar
required to maintain.
 The lowest rank was that of an officer in charge of 10 horsemen and the
highest rank was that of an officer in charge of 7000 horsemen .
 The mansabdars were appointed , promoted and dismissed by the
emperor.
 A mansab or rank was not hereditary .
 After the death the jagirs reverted to the king who granted it to someone
else.
 Mansabdars were given salary in
accordance to their jobs .
 They were later paid in form of
jagirs somewhat like iqtas.
 But unlike iqtadars, most
mansabdars did not actually
administer their jagirs.
 They only had right to the revenue
of their assignments which was
collected for them by their
servants while the mansabdars
themselves served in other part of
the empire.
 The average salary of a sawar
was Rs. 20 per month and that of
an infantryman was about Rs.3
per month.
SOME MILITARY REFORMS:
 The system of branding horses and
maintaining a descriptive roll of
soldiers was adopted by Akbar.
 Akbar also maintained a standing
army .
 The cavalry was the most important
branch of the Mughal troops .
 The troops were mainly supplied by
the mansabdars .
 The emperor also maintained a
battalion of royal and trusted soldiers
.
 He also maintained corps of royal
bodyguard and a large number of
war elephants and a well organised
artillery.
 REVENUE SYSTEM:
• Akbar adopted the basic structure of Sher shah’s revenue system, which
continued till 1585.
• With the help of his revenue minister, Todar Mal, he introduced some important
land reform system, known as Todar Mal’s bandobast or settlement.
• It was also known as the Zabti or dahsala system.
• Land was surveyed and measured.
• The land was classified into four categories o the basis of regularly cultivated and
occasionally cultivated.
• For instance, Polaj was the land which was cultivated every year and never to be
left fallow, whereas Parauti was the land which had to be left fallow for a time to
enable it to recover its fertility.
• Land was measured with a bamboo jarib joined together with iron rings instead
of the hemp rope used before.
• The average produce and the average price over 10 years was calculated.
• One third of the produce was the king’s share, it could be paid in cash or kind,
though cash was preferred.
• The revenue officers were instructed to treat the peasants well.
• If the crops failed due to drought or flood , the state of remission of revenue.
• Loans could be paid back in easy installments were advanced to the peasants to
buy seeds, cattle and implements .
TRADE

• Trade was another source of revenue

though much less in compared to land .
• The main components of export were
spices, indigo, textiles and saltpeter .
• India traded with China ,central Asia
and Europe .
• The Portuguese established trade
centers on the western coast during
Akbar’s reign.
RELIGIOUS POLICIES
 Akbar followed a policy of religious tolerance and
believed in administering equal justice to the followers
of all religion.
 He wanted to unite the diverse races of India into one
nation.
 He took a number of measures and laid the foundation of
an empire based on equal rights to all citizens,
irrespective of their religious beliefs.
 He abolished jizya, the tax which the non - Muslims
were required to pay and the pilgrim tax on bathing at
the holy places such as Prayag and Banaras.
 He treated all his subjects equally, gave high posts
according to merit without any distinction of caste, creed
or religion.
 He married Rajput princesses and allowed them freedom
to practice their own faith. He also allowed them to
celebrate Diwali and Holi and himself used to take part
in these festivals.
 He gave land grants to persons of merit irrespective of
their religious beliefs.
  Akbar wanted to create the spirit of
IBADAT KHANA love and brotherhood among the
people of all religions.
 In 1575, he build a hall called the
Ibadat Khana or the hall of prayer at
his capital, Fatehpur Sikri.
 Religious and spiritual topics were
discussed every Thursday in this hall.
 At first, these discussions were
confined to the followers of Islam only
but later on, it was opened to people of
all religion – Christians, Zoroastrians,
Hindus, Jains and even atheists.
 In 1579, Akbar decided to take into his
own hands all religious matters and
issued a ‘Declaration’ or ‘mahzar’.
 This declaration made Akbar the
supreme religious head of the
Muslims.
DIN-I-ILAHI
 The comparative study of
different religions at the Ibadat
Khana led Akbar to form the
Din-i-Ilahi (meaning ‘divine faith) in 1582.
 The new faith included the good points of all
religions.
 It believed in one Supreme God.
 The basic purpose of thee formation of Din-i-Ilahi
was Sulh-i-kul or universal harmony.
 The idea of tolerance in this faith did not
discriminate between people of different religions.
 It focused on a system of ethics like justice, peace,
honesty etc.’ which were universally applicable.
 There were no sacred books,
no priests, no temples or
rituals in the new faith.
 The members of the faith were
to follow a code of conduct
which included –
a) Not to eat meat, at least in
the month of their birth.
b) To give alms on their
birthday.
c) To do good to everybody.
Akbar did not use force nor
money to make people accept
the faith.
Hence, very few people joined it
and with Akbar’s death, Din-i-
SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL REFORMS
Akbar introduced a number of
social and educational reforms.
 He abolished sati and
legalised widow remarriage.
 He raised the age of marriage
to 14 for girls and 16 for boys.
 He restricted the sale of wine
and spirits.
 He revised the educational
syllabus and laid more stress
on moral education and on
secular subjects rather than
on religion and theology.
 He set up a translation
department for translating
works in Sanskrit, Arabic and
Greek.
CULTURAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 Akbar was a patron of art and
literature.
 Though he did not receive any
formal education during his
childhood he was a versatile
genius.
 He encouraged the study of
astronomy, mathematics, logic
and history.
 It is said that his library had
more than 4000 manuscripts.
 He could understand the fine
points of poetry, art, religion
and philosophy.
 NAVRATNAS

Akbar’s court was adorned by

nine distinguished men from
different fields. They were called the
‘navratnas’ and included:

 Abul Fazl, who wrote Akbar Nama and Ain- i – Akbari.

 Faizi, who translated the Mahabharata and Ramayana into Persian.
 Abdul Rahim Khan - i – Khana, famous for his dohas.
 Todar Mal, his revenue minister.
 Man Singh, his military general.
 Birbal, his constant companion, famous for his intelligence and sharp wit.
 Tansen, the great singer and musician, he is said to have composed Raga Darbari in
Akbar’s honour.
 Fakir Aziao-Din, a mystic and one of Akbar’s chief advisors.
 Mulla Do Piaza, a scholar known for his wit.
 During the reign of Akbar, painting was
organised in royal karkhanas, where
painters from different parts of the
country used to make beautiful
paintings.
 These artists blended the Persian and
Indian styles of painting.
 The scenes depicted in these paintings
included hunting and court scenes in
peacock blue and red colours.
 Paintings were also used to illustrating
Persian books.
 The most important work is Dastan-i-
Amir Hamza or Humzanama, which
has about 1200 paintings.
 Jaswant and Daswant were the two
famous painters of Akbar’s court.
MUGHAL ARCHITECTURE
FATEHPUR SIKRI
BULAND DARWAZA
LAST DAYS OF AKBAR…
 The last days of Akbar
were spent in grief.
 His two sons, Murad
and Danyal died.
 His only surviving son
Salim rebelled against
him.
 However, shortly
before his death in
1605, Akbar himself
nominated Salim as
his successor.
CONCLUSION….
 Akbar is regarded as one of
the greatest rulers of India.
 He built a vast empire and
gave the empire political and
administrative unity.
 He restored to war only when
all the other means failed.
 He did a great service to the
nation by bringing about
religious unity.
 He promoted art, architecture,
literature, music and painting
and gave them unique Indian
colour.